Research on Outdoor Sketching of Mongolian and Inner Mongolian Fine Arts in the 1950s-1960s

Abstract

In the 1950s of the 20th century, outdoor sketching began to take root in the fine arts of Mongolia and Inner Mongolia. During this period, the oil painting technique, known as "tósön budgiin zurag" by Inner Mongolian artists, started to mature professionally. In Mongolia, the first generation of professional artists launched outdoor sketching training-an artistic practice of observing and creating en plein air-and pioneered the methodologies for landscape painting amid difficult conditions. In the 1950s, Inner Mongolian artists who had studied in Beijing and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) introduced the outdoor painting techniques to the region, and further pioneered the new form of "tósön budgiin zurag" (oil painting) in their hometowns. The emergence of outdoor sketching as a core fine art practice laid the fundamental groundwork for the evolution and development of landscape painting. This study aims to elaborate on the efforts made by the early professional artists and their creative disciples in imparting the theoretical foundations of sketching, and in cultivating and refining the professional painting skills of emerging artists.